Microsoft likely to shut down Zune Marketplace this month

Microsoft’s rather unprofitable Zune Marketplace seems to be on its way out. According to Polygon, the company has announced that the service will be shut down. While there isn’t any specific date for it yet, Microsoft has stated that it could go down as early as November 22. This is, in no small part, because Xbox Music and Xbox Video have overtaken Zune to become the company’s music and video storefronts.

Users haven’t been able to make any purchases from the Zune Marketplace for quite some time now—ever since the service was moved over to the Xbox storefront alongside the removal of the Microsoft Points system. Those who have purchased music or videos from Zune can get it from Xbox Music or Xbox Video, which is currently available on Xbox 360 and Windows. The Xbox storefront will be making its way to Xbox One on November 22.

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The Zune Marketplace may shut down this month

With the closure of the Zune Marketplace, this could potentially leave owners of the Zune, Zune HD or even older Windows Phone 7 devices, out in the dust. Microsoft will hopefully reveal some way owners of these devices will be able to keep them synced up.

The Microsoft Points system was done away with back in August, and the move first made itself known through a dashboard updated for Xbox 360. Instead of Microsoft Points, users are now able to directly buy whatever they might want by using local currency.

The move away from Microsoft Points and into real currency for Xbox Live had been rumoured from as early as May this year. This was an attempt to streamline Xbox Live for the impending launch of Microsoft’s next-gen console—the Xbox One. It also helps the company consolidate the marketplaces of both the Xbox 360 as well as Windows 8.